A Boy Named Sue Might Really End Up in Jail

Research has shown that folks should give their kids common or popular names because not doing so might cause them later trouble.

A recent psychological study found that those with less popular names are more apt to become criminals than those with popular names. This is regardless of race.

Researchers compared first names of male juvenile delinquents with non juvenile delinquents and gave them what they called a PNI or popularity index for their first names. The popular names, for example, would be Michael at 100, the most popular, and David, which is half as popular. The PNI for names such as Alec, Ernest, Ivan, Kareen and Malcolm is 1, or less popular.

Those less popular names were related to certain delinquent behaviors and were associated with some other factors that also are crime risk factors such as economic disadvantage, home location in poor areas and living in a home with one parent.

Researchers David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee of Shippensburg University analyzed the data and concluded that those young people with the least popular names may be prone to crime because they end up being treated differently by their peers, may have difficulty forming relationships or may just act out because they don't like their names.